


Of Scholars and Night Watchmen

by changdori (janie6789)



Category: DBSK | Tohoshinki | TVfXQ | TVXQ
Genre: M/M, Night Watchman's Journal, Scholar Who Walks the Night
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-03
Updated: 2015-08-03
Packaged: 2018-04-12 16:59:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4487523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/janie6789/pseuds/changdori
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Crown Prince Lee Yoon has a new guard, Mooseok, assigned to serve him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Scholars and Night Watchmen

It was the last thing that Prince Lee Yoon was expecting.

It had been years since he has had a change in staff. As badly as he felt for the palace servants and slaves who served him for not being able to enjoy the luxuries of the palace, he thought he made sure that they were at least reasonably comfortable.

His servants were a collection of people from various departments who had done minor wrongs, from chamber servant who had once almost scalded the king after forgetting to cool the water down before serving it, a young servant girl who touched the Queen's puppy without permission, a kitchen servant who had miscounted a delivery, and the like. The only servant who had done nothing condemnable was his head servant, whose only sin was serving Yoon as the head servant at the time that Yoon was banished from the palace.

Save for the troubles he gives them as the King comes to reprimand him after a particularly rowdy night out, he thought that he treated them quite well, especially since he didn't confine them to the chokingly strict rules of the palace.

He didn't know that was all about to change with a single knock on his door during afternoon tea and the head servant appearing to say: "The King sent a new guard to you, your highness."

Yoon glared at the servant who really had done nothing wrong at the mention of the King.

"Yes, good, he can stay outside," said Yoon, turning his attention back to the table.

"He would like to offer his greetings, your highness."

Yoon put his teacup down. "I have no intention of making friends with security officers."

"He insists."

Yoon sighed. "What is his name?"

"Mooseok, your highness."

Yoon froze.

"Mooseok…" whispered Yoon with a frown. "Mooseok…"

Then it finally clicked into place.

"This wouldn't be the same Mooseok who has topped the national physical examinations for the past four years? The one who is said to be the best swordsman in the country?"

The servant bowed his head. "The very same, your highness."

"Why is he here," whispered Yoon under his breath to no one in particular.

No one offered an answer, and Yoon had only one option.

"Send him in," said Yoon.

The servant retreated from the room. Soon, a tall young man in a blue robe entered the room.

The grace with which the strong, skilled guard held himself was the first thing that struck the prince. It was clear even under the robes that he was strong and well-built, but the hands that emerged from the robe were beautiful, one gripping the sword handle at his belt tightly and the other elegantly arranging the fabric of his robes as he knelt on the floor. There were several scars on his face, but he was still some of the most handsome men that Yoon had ever seen.

The dark eyes were the most intriguing. They were dark and intense, and Yoon could already tell that they held a fire and passion that Yoon had never seen before; however, they were kind and unthreatening as he cast them down respectfully.

All of that put together made one man with the most classic beauty that Yoon had ever laid eyes on, and it wasn't until the guard said his greeting that Yoon remembered who this was and why he was in this room.

Yoon forced himself to look as impassive as he could muster as he addressed the man.

"And what exactly did you do to buy my grandfather's distaste?" said Yoon coldly.

Mooseok looked up at the prince in confusion. "Your highness, I'm not sure what you –"

He stopped mid-sentence, his gaze fixed on the prince as they looked up into the prince's icy eyes. He trained his eyes to the floor again soon, but he didn't continue his sentence.

"The best swordsman in the country, yet he sends you here to protect a disgraced prince who has been banished from the palace. You must have done _something_."

Yoon looked sharply at Mooseok, eyes glaring.

"He wouldn't waste someone as valuable as you on me for no reason. Either you've done something wrong, or my grandfather sent you here for other reasons than to simply protect me. Which is it?"

Mooseok visibly flustered, but his speech was fluent when he next spoke. "On the contrary, I think it's one of the greatest honours to be able to be the one to ensure your safety, my prince."

Yoon gave a long, empty laugh, then looked right at Mooseok.

"You are either an excellent liar or you are just stupid."

"…Your highness?"

"I do not ever want to see you," said Yoon, anger starting to build up now. "You are not to enter this house under any circumstances, and when I go out, you will not follow me. Do you understand?"

"I'm not sure that there will be possible," said Mooseok a bit too smoothly for Yoon's liking. "I will give you as much privacy as I can until you begin to trust me, but until then, please forgive me in advance for the inconvenience and discomfort. I will try to stay out of your sight as much as I can."

Yoon clenched his teeth.

"You can start right now," he said. "Get out if you're not going to tell me what my grandfather wants by having you follow me," dismissed Yoon.

Yoon watched as Mooseok gave an annoyingly crisp and perfect bow, getting up from his knees and respectfully backing out of the room.

 

 

It was only the next day that Yoon stepped outside for a walk in the gardens when he found the young palace girl who served him tea, perhaps about ten or eleven years old, crying in the gardens. She was sitting by the roses, wiping her eyes on her blue skirt.

Yoon frowned, because he liked to keep his servants healthy and happy. That was the least that he could do as prince – to take care of his servants. So he went to her immediately, the head servant following him unnecessarily.

The sounds of footsteps startled her, and she rose to her feet immediately to bow to Yoon, which he acknowledged with a nod. She didn't immediately stop crying though, which made Yoon suspect this was something more serious than what it seemed.

"Tears are not becoming of such a beautiful girl," said Yoon gently. "Why are you crying?"

The girl didn't answer for a long time, prompting the servant to urge her with, "Do you not hear that the Prince demands an answer?"

Yoon glared at his servant. "I do not demand an answer, and I do not mind waiting for her to find the right words before speaking to me." He then looked back down at the girl, who was looking at her feet and wringing her hands. Yoon chuckled and crouched down so that they were eye level. "I just want to help. I don't like it when my servants are unhappy."

The girl finally looked up a bit so that she looked at Yoon through her tear-strung eyelashes.

"Go on," encouraged Yoon.

"Your new guard," whispered the girl.

Yoon's face hardened. "Did he do something to you?"

The girl shook her head. "No," she said, her eyes wide. "No, your highness. I was just – He – I –"

Then it clicked in Yoon's mind as he thought back to the guard's strict, not-a-hair-out-of-place image.

"Did he scold you?" asked Yoon kindly.

The girl looked up for a second before nodding timidly. Yoon chuckled and reached out to pat the girl's head. "Do try not to take it to heart. I will make sure he knows that he has no business sticking his nose in my servants' lives."

She sniffled and bowed again with a quiet, "Yes, your highness."

Yoon nodded. "By the way, the tea this afternoon was excellent, and the biscuit even more so. I thank you for that."

The girl finally cracked a smile, and Yoon turned to his head servant.

"Send the guard into my room, please. I would like a word with him."

 

 

Yoon glared at the kneeling guard from his chair, but it was clear that it did nothing to intimidate the man. It was strange, how Mooseok was doing everything right, honestly – on his knees, with his head bowed and eyes trained to the floor, and speaking quietly – but Yoon could not feel a single ounce of true fear or submission. Yoon narrowed his eyes.

"What right do you think you have to intimidate my staff and reduce a young girl to tears?" he demanded. "You are here for my security, nothing else. You are certainly not here to manage my house."

"I am well aware, your highness." He glanced up at the prince. "I assume you are talking about the young servant girl."

When the prince did not deny it, Mooseok spoke.

"I saw her leaving the house today with a bowl of feed for the stray cats."

Yoon laughs. "That is hardly unsafe, sir. It may be unsafe for her, but certainly not to me."

"There is a reason why servants are not allowed to leave the palace without explicit reason and permission, your highness. I do not like the idea of a young servant girl who serves the prince closely wandering out alone, still in her clothes that identify her as a palace girl. Anyone could kidnap the girl and interrogate her for information on you."

"That is not up for you to decide," said Yoon, staring to get angry. "I have given her explicit permission to leave the house to her liking. You are taking away the poor girl's freedom."

"I am just doing my job."

"Do you suspect immediate danger?" asked Yoon, getting annoyed.

"No, not at this moment," replied Mooseok. "But something I learned during training and in my work is that things change quickly, and all I want is for you to be safe."

Yoon couldn't even argue.

 

 

Mooseok did stay out of Yoon's way for the most part when Yoon was in the house, but if he so much as set his foot outside the house, even for a walk in the gardens, the guard was only inches behind, certainly too close for comfort to Yoon's standards.

It was starting to annoy him, how Mooseok asked where he was going, whether it was night or day (did the guard never sleep?) if Yoon was ever dressed to go outside. It was also annoying how Mooseok would try to convince Yoon to stay inside, how he will send the servants for the item that Yoon wants from the market, or that he will have them bring the drinks to the house for the prince to enjoy. When Yoon had expressed that he would like to attend the flying lamp festival, Mooseok had made a slave go and bring a lamp from the festival for Mooseok to fly at the house. Yoon had been livid.

"I will no longer have you bother my servants to tend to my every whim," Yoon had said through clenched teeth.

"You must not think about it like that, your highness," Mooseok said smoothly. "The servants are paid and committed to serve you."

Yoon had huffed and dismissed him moodily, but Mooseok wasn't fazed in the slightest as he bowed and left the room.

 

 

A week into Mooseok trying to control every aspect of his life, Yoon was beginning to see that Mooseok's intentions were exceedingly clear. Mooseok was to keep the prince out of public sight as much as possible, so that others couldn't see Yoon's misbehaviour. Mooseok wasn't trying to keep Yoon safe; just imprisoned.

Yoon deciding, he called for his servant, who appeared within minutes. "Your highness?"

Yoon glared at him, again, for no other reason than the fact that he was annoyed at the guard. "Get ready," he said. "We're going out."

 

 

Yoon didn't let the servant leave the room while he got ready so that he couldn't warn the guard ahead of time. It was only after Yoon stepped out of the house that Mooseok realized that Yoon was leaving, by which time Yoon was determined not to let anything stop him.

Mooseok came close right away so that he was only an inch behind.

"May I ask where you are going, your highness?"

Yoon hummed. "It is none of your business, is it?"

"I am just trying to fulfill my duty."

"Since when was your duty to annoy me?"

"It isn't, your highness."

"Precisely," said Yoon with a meaningful look at the guard. The guard kept close to the point where Yoon could feel the guard's robe brush against his hand as he walked. He stopped dead in his tracks, and so did Mooseok and the servant.

"Are you really going to follow me?" asked Yoon.

"Yes, your highness."

"Gods," sighed Yoon, rolling his eyes.

They were halfway to the village when Yoon turned to the guard.

"Mooseok, I forgot my purse at my house. Go and fetch it for me."

Mooseok looked easily at the head servant. "If you please."

"No," said Yoon, gloating inside. "I want _you_ to do it."

"It would be more efficient if –"

"I want _you_ to do it, Mooseok. This is a royal order."

Yoon could see Mooseok's jaw tighten, and Yoon smiled the most annoying smile he could muster.

"And where will you be?" said Mooseok, clearly resigned.

"I will be at the pub," lied Yoon in a singsong voice. "Take your time, good sir."

Mooseok narrowed his eyes, but he bowed before rushing off.

 

 

The servant wasn't happy that Yoon had chosen the gisaeng house. Nervous, more like.

"Your highness, the King asked you not to –"

"He didn't order me, and that will be that," said Yoon, cutting him off. "Now get me in the same room with the prettiest gisaseng in the house."

He actually ended up having quite a bit of time before Mooseok finally figured out where he was. The gisaeng was undressed and Yoon was out of his robe as well. With a table of wine and small snacks between them, the gisaeng had managed to undo the tie of his undershirt and left it open.

To be honest, Yoon wasn't all that interested in women. He would pretend all day to inconvenience his grandfather, but he wasn't interested in spending the night with one. His only experience with a woman was a curious kiss with a palace girl who worked in the kitchens when he was a young boy. He had been much more interested by his books and his studies, and he had never seen her again afterwards.

But regardless of his interests and preferences, he could appreciate their beauty, and while he mainly drew unclothed women to spite his grandfather, he would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy the task at all.

So he really was genuinely admiring the gisaeng's silky hair, her smooth skin and red lips while she poured him yet another glass of wine when the door slid opened without warning.

"Your highness, I couldn't find –"

Yoon looked up in satisfaction to see that the guard stopped talking out of shock, his mouth falling slightly open.

He chuckled and pointed to the purple purse that was sitting on top of the clothes that he had taken off and spoke, feeling his tongue twisting up slightly from the drinks he had.

"I had it right here with me after all, Mooseok. Thank you for your help. You may leave."

Mooseok didn't leave though, and Yoon cocked his head.

"What seems to be the problem? Did you want to join us?"

Mooseok looked positively offended. "Absolutely not. I –"

"Who is he?" asked the gisaeng, sounding annoyed. "Why is he disturbing us?"

"He's nobody, and he's going to leave," said Yoon, looking pointedly at Mooseok.

"I'm not going to leave before I can search her."

Yoon raised his eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"I'm not going to leave before –"

Yoon got up from his seat and drew himself up to his full height. And then he stepped so close to the guard that their noses were almost touching.

"Unless you are going to join us, you are going to leave right now," whispered Yoon.

"No," said Mooseok defiantly.

And in the moment, being so annoyed and drunk, Yoon actually raised a hand – and backhanded the guard hard across the face.

Mooseok could have stopped him, of course. He was the best swordsman in the country; there was no way that he couldn't stop a drunk man flailing. But here he stood, with a bruise beginning to stain on his cheek, his eyes cast down submissively.

"Oh, gods," whispered Yoon in horror, taking a step back. "I'm so – I'm so sor –"

"You must not concern yourself with me," said Mooseok quietly. "But please give me the opportunity to uphold the royal order and ensure your safety."

Yoon looked away from Mooseok in shame. He eventually remembered the gisaeng, who was watching the exchange in fear. Yoon sighed and looked back at the guard.

"Let's go back home," he whispered.

All Mooseok did was bow.

 

 

Yoon had returned home and was sitting in his darkened room, a lone candle in front, when his servant announced that Mooseok was there to speak with the prince.

Yoon found that he couldn't refuse the guard's entrance after their exchange earlier, and so he gave the word. The door slid open and the guard slipped inside gracefully and knelt before Yoon. Yoon noted that the bruise was fully formed now. Yoon sighed.

"I will have the royal physician tend to your cheek. I do sincerely offer my apologies."

"That isn't why I came to see you, your highness. As I said, you do not have to concern yourself with me."

"What brings you in, then?" asked Yoon.

"Your highness," said Mooseok carefully, taking a glance up. "What exactly do you expect to gain from this?"

The prince narrowed his eyes. "From what?"

Mooseok lowered his eyes. "From pretending you're a hooligan."

Mooseok braced himself, readying himself for a flying inkstone, but he was instead greeted with laughter.

"Why, you're saying such things so easily and fluently with that pretty mouth of yours," said Yoon. "I'm sorry to break your fantasies of serving a perfect prince, but I'm afraid I'm not one, Mooseok. I truly, genuinely enjoy drinking being with women."

Mooseok raised his eyes to look right at the prince. "That I cannot say, your highness, but I know that you are also well versed in literature and that you enjoy reading."

There was silence.

"Why would you say such a thing?"

Mooseok lowered his eyes to the floor again. "I was going through your things before I went to find you at the gisaeng house, and I found –"

"Going through my things?" cut off Yoon sharply. "How dare you suggest you have the authority to go through my –"

"You ordered me to, your highness. You asked me to find your purse and to bring it to you."

Another silence.

"Oh. Right."

Yoon cleared his throat, looking ever so slightly embarrassed.

"Carry on."

"Your highness, I found your secret stash of books in the dresser."

"My grandfather put them there," said Yoon without missing a single beat.

"They were hidden between your clothes."

"Because I don't want them in my sight."

"They are well-read, your highness."

Yoon chuckled. "Those books were handed down to me that way."

"I know that the palace policy is to have every book specially and perfectly scribed for the royals."

Yoon's smile faltered for a second, but he soon regained his composure. "Those books were my father's. My grandfather thought it might motivate me to study to have my father's books. He was wrong."

Mooseok looked up desperately. "You would sell your father's name this way?"

Yoon's eyes flashed. "I would," said Yoon. And with this, Mooseok knew that he was now treading in dangerous territory; this was no longer a game for either of them. "Now that we have established that I do not enjoy reading, how would you know that I am well-learned in literature?"

"The books in the dresser are difficult books. The Analects and the Classics, the Great Learning, Mencious –"

"Not a very good argument since I have just told you that I haven't read any of those books. Now leave. I'm getting bored of arguing with you."

Mooseok bowed his head, but before standing, he looked up at the prince one last time.

"As Confucius said in his fifteenth chapter of The Analects on the thirty-third page, 'Earlier, I did not play, I did not sleep, and I was deep in thought, but I gained nothing. It cannot beat learning.' I am simply concerned that if you really are not learned, you do not even seem to be deep in thought."

Yoon's fists clenched. "First of all, it's 'I did not eat,' not 'I did not play,' and the saying is on the thirty-first page of the fifteenth chapter, not the thirty-third," said Yoon through clenched teeth. "And secondly, how dare you suggest to me that you can lecture at me. I am the crown prince, and _you_ – you are a peasant of the lower class, pretend as you might to be a noble!"

It hurt Mooseok to hear that, and Yoon knew it. Mooseok bowed his head lower, and realizing that he hurt the guard both physically and emotionally today, Yoon felt so guilty that he had to look away slightly.

"Please forgive me, your highness. It wasn't my place." His voice was demure, much quieter than before. Yoon let out a sigh. He was on the verge of apologizing when Mooseok spoke again. "But this is how I know you are well-versed in literature."

There was an uncomfortable silence, and Mooseok lowered his head a little more when Yoon finally chuckled.

"Ah, very clever," said Yoon.

He glared at the guard.

"Don't think I won't punish for toying with me."

"I will submit to any punishment you decide on, your highness. But I cannot sit here and watch your honor and integrity be destroyed this way, and for no comprehensible reason, my prince. The King and the Cabinet, and the people, your highness, the people will not trust you once it comes time for you to become King, please –"

"Enough!" thundered Yoon.

Mooseok stopped talking, and there was a long silence between them until he finally got up to leave. Before he left, though, he looked right into Yoon's eyes.

"You are going to be an excellent King, my prince," Mooseok whispered. "And I will make sure that everyone else can see this as well."

He bowed again then left the room, leaving Yoon to feel worse than he had in a very, very long time.


End file.
